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m e e h s n 8 A 8 h s 4 Th. L E R T T 0 G B G (No Model?) SHEET DELIVERYAPPARATUS FOR PRINTING MAGHINES. No. 246,371.

Patented Aug. 30,1881.

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4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

0. GOTTBE-LL. SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MAUHINES.

No. 246,371. Patented Aug. 30,1881.

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(No Model.) 4 SheetsShet 3.

C. B. GOTTRELL.

SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MAOEINES. No. 246,371. PatentedAug. 30,1881.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4..

0. B. GOTTRELL. SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MACHINES. N0.246,371.

Patented Aug. 30,1881.

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N. PETERS. PhnlmLllhogmphL-r. Washmgkm. DJ;

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thaws CALVERT B. GOTTRELL, OF WESTERLY, RHODE ISLAND.

SHEET-DELIVERY APPARATUS FOR PRINTING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 246,371, dated August30, 1881,

Application filed January 25, 1851.

To all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, CALVERT B. Oo'r'rRELL, ofWesterly, in the county of WVashington and State of Rhode Island, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inSheet-DeliveryApparatnsi'or CylinderPrinting-Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to gripers which are employed to take the sheetfrom the front of the impression-cylinder of the machine and carry it toand deliver it upon the receivingtable with thelast-printed side upward.

The invention consists in a novel construction and arrangement of andmethod of operating such gripers, whereby some essential advantages areobtained, among which one of the most important is that the said gripersmay be thereby made to take the sheet with greater certainty than thedelivery-gripers heretofore employed to take sheets from the front ofthe impression-cylinder. Certain features of the invention are, however,applicable not only to two-revolution cylinder-presses, but tostopcylinder presses also.

Thcinvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure l is a side elevation of such of the parts of a two-revolutioncylinder printing-press as are necessary to illustrate my invention, theother parts being omitted. Fig. 2 is an end "iew of the delivery-gripershaft and one of its carriages, a portion of the impression-cylinder,and part of one of the ways on which the carriage runs on a larger scalethan Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal view of the said griper-shat't andits carriages, partly in section, showing also transverse sections ofthe ways on which the carriages run on a scale corresponding with Fig.2. Fig. 4 is a plan corresponding with Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a transversesectional view of the delivery-griper shaft and gripers and part of thecylinder. Fig. 6 is an end view of thegripershaft and theprincipal partsof the openingand closing mechanism, illustrating the method of closingthe gripers to take the sheet from the cylinder. Fig. is a horizontalsectional view of parts shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 7 is a similar view,illustrating the method of opening the gripers to deliver the sheet onthe receiving- Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are on the same scale as Figs. 2 and 3.

(No model.)

A is the main framing of the press; B, the feed-board; O, theimpression-cylinder. E is the receiving board or table, arranged at theopposite end of the framing to the feed-board.

The cylinder 0 and the reciprocating typebed may have motion imparted tothem by the usual or any suitable means, the cylinder having acontinuous revolution, and being fitted, as usual, with gripers fortaking the sheet from the feed-board and holding it during the printing.These gripers, being well known, are not represented in the drawings.

D is the delivery-griper shaft or griper-stock, arranged to oscillate injournal-boxes (l (1 provided in two carriages, F F, which are fitted .toslide on the exteriors of fixed parallel upwardly-arched ways G G, whichare arranged lengthwise of the press, one on each side thereof, eachextending from a point outside of its respective end of the cylinder 0to a point over or beyond the farthest end of the receivingboard. Theseways G G are tubular, and for convenience are made of wrought-irongaspipe, and are slotted longitudinally on their upper sides for thepurpose hereinafter explained. They are supported by brackets e on thecylinder-standards and by standardsf on the receiving-board stand.

The two griper-carriages F F are secured one to each of two wire ropesor other cords or chains a a, each of which passes right through one ofthe tubular ways G G, and is secured at one end to the periphery of oneof two drums or pulleys, H H, on a shaft, I, at the receivingboard endof the machine, and secured at the other end to the periphery of one oftwo drums or pulleys, J J, on a shaft, K, under the feedboard, passingalso over pulleys f attached to the standardsf. The said ropes, cords,or chains are wound upon their respective drums or pulleys H H and J Jto a sufficient length to allow them to move thecarriages F F and thegripershaft D on the ways G G from a line nearly over the cylinder to aline over or beyond the back of the receiving-board. The connectionsI) 1) between the ropes or cords a a and the carriages F F pass throughand work in the slots in the tops of the tubular ways, as shown in Fig.3.

The shaft K of the drums J J is furnished with a pinion, S, which gearswith a toothed sector, L, on the upper end of the leverL, which works ona fixed fulcrum, c, and the lower end of which is connected with the rodM of a camyoke, M, which works on the rotary shaft N, and is acted uponby a cam, M on the said shaft in such manner as to cause the sector andpinion to turn the shaft K in a direction to move the griper-shaftcarriages from the re ceiving-board toward the cylinder.

The cam-shaft N may be the driving-shaft of the press or any other shaftsuitably driven.

The shaft I of the drums H H has a spring, I, coiled around it, and soapplied as to tend to turn the said drums in the direction of the arrowshown on one of them in Fig. l, and so to cause the said drums to drawthe gripershaft carriages from the cylinder toward the receiving-board.

The delivery-griper shaft D is hollow, and for convenience may be madeof wroughtiron gas or steam pipe. Its under side is slottedlongitudinally, as shown at 10 in Figs. 3 and 5. At one end it isjournaled directly into the box (I of the carriage F, but at the otherend it is furnished with a sleeve, g, which is rigidly secured to it bya set-screw, g, as shown in Fig. 3, and which forms thejournal whichworks in the box dof the other carriage, F. The upper jaws, i t, of thegripers are rigidly attached to the shaft D and only move therewith, andthe lower jaws,j j, are hinged to the upper ones by hinges 1', arrangedeccentricall y below the shaft, the jaws being therefore arranged andoperating in a manner precisely the reverse of that which isusual indelivery-gripers--that is to say, the opening and closing movementbeingmade by the under jaw of each, or the one nearest the center of thecylinder, instead of by the upper jaw, or the one farthest from thecenter of the cylinder.

Springs of various kinds may be employed to close the jaws; but for thesake of convenience I propose to use a simple india-rubbcr band, on,round each pair ofjaws.

To provide for the opening of the jaws, there is a blade-like cam, k,working through the longitudinal slot 10 of the griper-sh aft D, andacting directly against the jaws jj of the gripers, the shaft It of thesaid cam being within and concentric with 1). One end of the said shaft7; is keyed into a head, k (see Fig. 3,) which fits as an innerjourna-lwithin a portion of the sleeve-like griper-shaftjournalg. To the outerend of this head 7: there is secured firmly a laterally-elastic lever, kfor the purpose of turning the shaft is independently dfthe griper-shaft to operate the cam 71 On opposite ends of the sleeve-likejournal 9 of the griper shaft D there are rigidly secured, either to thesaid journal or directly to said shaft, two arms, g 9 (see Fig. 3,) theinner one, 1 being within reach of a pin or projection, 6, (see Fig. 2,)on the corresponding end of the cylinder, near the periphery thereof,and the outer one, 9, being furnished externally with a beveledprojection, over which the laterally-elastic lever slips, and underwhich it catches to lock the cam-shaft L and cam 7;, as shown in Fi 2,in position to hold the gripers open.

The griper-shaft is furnished, as shown in Figs.2, 4, 5, (3, and 7,withan arnnp, on which there is a weight, 1), which exerts a constanttendency to turn the shaft in a direction to force the gripers upward asfar as permitted by a projection, 19 on the shaft, and a stop, f, on thecarriage F, as shown in Fig. \Vhen the said projection is against thesaid stop the upper jaws of the gripers have an inclination such as isshown in Figs. 1 and 2, and in bold outline in Fig. 5, which istheinclination which they have atall times except when taking ordelivering the sheet; but this weight leaves the gripers free to swingor move downward when sufficient force is applied to turn them and theirshaft in opposition to the action of said weight.

For the purpose of unlocking the griperopening cam and allowing the jawsofthe gripers to close upon the sheet to take it from the cylinder thereis attached to a bracket, a, on one of the cylinder-standards, a fixedwedge, a, which is so arranged that the arm on the griper-shaft may passon one side of it and the turned-out end of the elastic lever 1.7 on thecam-shaft 7; may pass on the other side of it, as shown in Fig. 6*, atthe proper time, as will be hereinafter fully described, and that thesaid lever maybe thereby sprung aside far enough to slip over theprojection g on the said arm g, and so leave the gripers to be closed bytheir springs m.

For the purpose of opening the gripers to liberate the sheet so that itmay be deposited upon the receiving-table E, there are provided upon thereceiving-boar(l, or upon suitable fixed portions of the press adjacentthereto, as shown in Figs. 1, 4, and 7, two stops f and q, the saidstops being so arranged that the upper end of the lever It may firststrike the stop j", and the arm 9 may afterward strike the stop (1 asthe griper-shaft carriages, gripel shafts, and gripers are about tocomplete their movement from the cylinder to and over thereceiving-table.

The operation of taking the sheet from the cylinder and delivering itupon the receivingtable is as follows While the griper-shaft car riages,with the gripcr-shaft and gripers, are moved by the cam M from thereceiving-table toward the cylinder, the gripers are open, and theweight 12, holding the projection on the griper-shaft against the stopp,keeps the upper jaws, i, of the delivery-gripers about the inclinationshown in Figs. 1, 2, and in hold outline in Fig. 5, so that the pointsof the said jaws, when, at the end of the movement of the carriage, theyare brought close enough to the periphery of the impression-cylinder totake the sheet therefrom, are some distance above an imaginaryline, a,drawn between the center of the cylinder and the center of thegripershaft, as shown in Fig. 5. The cylinder has now arrived at suchstage of its rotation that the opening provided in it for its owngripers is opposite the lower jaws,j, of the open delivery-gripers,which enter the said opening, so that the front edge of the sheet may bebrought over them and under the jaws i by the continued rotation of thecylinder. The pin or projection Z on the cylinder has now arrived incontact with the arm g of the griper-shatt, as may be understood byreference to Fig. 2, the said arm being exactly in line with g in thatfigure. By the continued rotation of the cylinder the pin or projectionl, acting on the arm g turns the griper-shaft in the opposite directionto the rotation of the cylinder, but causes the points of the gripers tomove in approximately the same direction as the cylinder and atapproximately the same speed therewith. Just as the points of theupperjaws, t, arrive at the line 00 so, where they are nearest thecenter of the cylinder, the lower laterally elastic and flexibleturned-out end of the elastic lever k of the cam-shaft is forced, bypassing over the wedge at, out beyond the end of the projection g on thearm 9 and the griper-opening cam being thus unlocked, the gripers areclosed by the upward or outward movement from the cylinder of theirlowerjaws,j, produced by their springs m, the upper jaws being stillmoving with the cylinder, and both jaws continuingio move with thecylinder until the sheet has been released by the cylinder-gripers,after which, the pin Z having passed by the end of the arm 9 the gripersare allowed to be raised by the Weightp until the projectionp strikesthe stop 19 This action of the gripers may be understood by reference toFigs. 2 and 6. The movem ent of the griper-earriages F F along the waysG G toward the receiving-table now takes place so rapidly that thesheet, with its lastprinted side upward, will be kept flying in ahorizontal, or nearly horizontal, position from the time it leaves thecylinder until it arrives over the receiving-table, the upward archingof the ways causing it to be carried up so high that it will not fail toclear the inking apparatus between the cylinder and the said table. Asthe carriages and gripers are arriving near the end of this movement theupper end of the lever k on the cam-shaft comes in contact with and isstopped by the stopf, as shown in bold outline in Fig. 7, and thecontinued movement causes the said lever to turn the gripers downwardwithout opening them until the lower end of the arm of the gripershaftis stopped by the stop q, after which the slightly-continued movement ofthe carriage causes the laterally-elastic lever k to press so hard onthe beveled side of the projection g on the arm 9 against which it hasbeen rest ing, that it will slip over the said projection, as shown indotted outline in Fig. 7, and so allow the cam-shaft to open the gripersand leave the sheet free to fall on the receivingtable. The gripers arenow locked in an open condition by the lever 70 and projection 9 and soremain during the whole of their movement toward the cylinder, which nowtakes place, and until the carriages have begun to move back again fromthe cylinder, as previously described, the wedge n being inoperative asthe gripers move toward the cylinder, because it is so low that the armH, which is then held up with the gripers by the weight 19, passes aboveit without touching it.

1 will remark, in conclusion, that the movement of the gripers with thecylinder at the time of taking the sheet, instead of being effected bythe pin 6 on the cylinder, might be effected by a cam or any othersuitable means. I will also remark that the gripers supported incarriages working on ways, as described, might be used in astop'cylinderpress, in which case the oscillating movement of the gripershaft tocause the gripers to move with the cylinder might be dispensed with, andin which case, also, the wedge n for tripping orunlocking the gripers toenable them to close might be movable instead of stationary.

What Iclaim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a cylinder printing press, the combination, withtheimpression-cylinder, of an oscillating delivery-griper shaft andattached gripers and means, substantially as herein described, forimparting to the said griper-shaft at the time of its gripers taking thesheet from the cylinder a motion on its axisin a direction the reverseof the rotary motion of the cylinder, whereby the points of said gripersare caused to move with the cylinder and approximately in the samedirection therewith at the time ot'taking the sheet, substantially asherein described.

2. The combination, with the griper-carriages, of the ropes, cords, orchains to a, the drums or pulleys JJ, shaft K, pinion S, sectorlever LL, cam M drums or pulleys H H, shaft I, and spring P, substantially asand for the purpose herein set forth.

3. The combination, with the impressioncylinder and an oscillatingdelivery-griper shaft arranged in front thereof, of gripers the upperjaws of which, or those farthestfrom the periphery of the cylinder, arerigidly attached to the said shaft, and the lowerjaws of which, or thosenearest the periphery of the cylinder, are hinged to the said shaft toand below the axis of the said shaft, substantially as herein described.

4. In a cylinder printingpress, the combination, with the cylinder, ofdelivery-gripers, an oscillating shaft to which both the upper andthelowerjaws of said gripers are attached, carriages containing bearingsfor said shaft, an arm on said shaft, and a projection or pin on the endof the cylinder for operation uponsaid arm to produce the movement ofboth the upper and the lower jaws of the gripers with the cylinder,substantially as herein described.

5. The combination, wit-h a hollow longitudinally slotted gripershaftand attached grip- ITO ers, of a camshaft Working within saidgripershaft and carrying a griper-opening cam which works through theslot in said griper-shaft, substantially as herein set forth.

6. The combination, with the hollow longitudinally-slotted griper-shat'tand attached gripers and the gri 'ier-openingcam-shaft Workingwithin thesaid griper-shaft, of a locking device, substantially as hereindescribed, for locking the two shafts together with the gripers open.

7. The combination of the hollow longitudinally-slotted griper shaft Dand attached spring-closed gripers, the cam-shaft k, and cam k foropening the gripers, the locking de vice g g h, and the griperbpeningstopf, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

8. The combination of the griper-shaft D and attached spring-closedgripers, the cam-shaft k and cam is, the locking device 9 W, and thestationary wedge 12. for disengaging the said locking device,substantially as herein described.

9. The combination of the griper-shaft and gripers, a cam-shaft placedwithin the griper shaft and carrying a cam for opening the grip ers. alocking device, substantially such as is herein described, for lockingthe said shafts together, and a stationary Wedge attached to the framingof the machine for unlocking the said locking device, as herein setforth.

0. B. COTTRELL.

\Vitnesses HENRY '1. BROWN, FREDK. HAYNES.

